- Japan, Singapore and Korea respond to invasion with financial sanctions and export controls
- Taiwan also announces sanctions against Russia for invading Ukraine
- Cautious ASEAN does not mention Russia and invasion in group statement that puts the responsibility on both the aggressor and Ukraine
Japan, Singapore and South Korea have announced sanctions against Russia for invading Ukraine, joining the United States and its Western allies in condemning the aggression and expressing their support for the embattled Ukranians.
In Tokyo, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said on February 28 the country will sanction Russian oligarchs and Belarusian officials, including President Alexander Lukashenko, over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
He said Japan would freeze their’ assets, as it had done with the financial assets of Russian President Vladimir Putin and other key officials.
Kishida told reporters after speaking on the phone with Ukranian President Volodymir Zelenskyy that Japan will also ban financial transactions with seven major Russian banks, in addition to restricting transactions with the Russian Central Bank and tightening controls on exports of internationally controlled items and semiconductors.
South Korea hit Russia with sanctions on its banks and other measures. Earlier, it said would tighten export controls on Russia and join the US-led response to the invasion. Seven major Russian banks targeted by the Korean sanctions are Sberbank, VEB, PSB, VTB, Otkritie, Sovcom and Novikom, whose subsidiaries are also subject to USsanctions.
Singapore Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan said at the ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on February 28 that due to the “unprecedented gravity” of the situation and Russia’s veto last week of a draft Security Council resolution, Singapore would “impose appropriate sanctions and restrictions against Russia.”
“In particular, we will impose export controls on items that can be used directly as weapons in Ukraine to inflict harm or to subjugate the Ukrainians,” he said in a transcript The Diplomat said it obtained from the Singaporean Foreign Ministry. “We will also block certain Russian banks and financial transactions connected to Russia.”
He called the Russian aggression on Ukraine “an unprovoked military invasion of a sovereign state.”Singapore is the only ASEAN member to declare sanctions against Russia so far.
China, an ally of Putin, said it would not impose sanctions on Russia. But Taiwan, which China considers a province, said its businesses will follow Taipei’s announced sanctions.
“We must solemnly condemn Russia’s violation of Ukraine’s sovereignty and its disruption of regional and global peace and stability,” Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen said on February 25, a day after the invasion began.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC), the world’s largest manufacturer of semiconductors, will be following the sanctions, according to Taipei’s economic minister.
Economic Affairs Minister Wang Mei-hua said on the same day the business sectors, including TMSC, agreed to follow government guidelines on sanctions against Russia.
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations cautiously reacted to the crisis.
Among the ASEAN countries, Vietnam’s industry experts and banking regulators said the sanctions are unlikely to have a significant impact on the country. Export-import turnover between Việtnam and Russia was $35 billion ($4 billion with Ukraine) in 2021, a report by the Ministry of Industry and Trade said.
Foreign Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. said in a statement to the UN General Assembly on February 28 that the Philippines “expresses explicit condemnation of the invasion of Ukraine.” The country had voted “yes” on a United Nations General Assembly resolution condemning the invasion.
Analysts said the ASEAN foreign ministers’ group statement did not mention Russia and did not call the Ukraine aggression an invasion. They said the ASEAN ministers also put the burden of upholding “the principles of mutual respect for the sovereignty, territorial integrity and equal rights of all nations” on “all parties” rather than just the invading nation.
